“I’m just not getting that interview right”.

How many people feel they are not managing to get past their first interview and make the short list of candidates for the role?

I was talking recently to a senior person who had been interviewing a young woman for a new position. Let’s call the candidate Liz. She said that Liz’s CV looked excellent and she had made the cut from more than 40 applicants to 6 being interviewed.

“I was really looking forward to interviewing her” she said

However the interview did not go as well as hoped.

“What went wrong?” I asked

“Well” she said “Liz came in and first impressions were good. But she continued to text during the whole interview. I just couldn’t put her forward for the role. Did I do the right thing?”

I asked if the candidate was going to have any customer contact and she replied “Yes, a lot of contact”

My reply was easy “If Liz didn’t have the wit to pay attention in an interview her EQ skills were poor and she would be a liability not an asset with customers”

It does seem obvious to most of us that being prepared for an interview is important but don’t forget being totally in the zone during the interview is equally important if not more important as well.